The present invention relates generally to furniture and relates more particularly to a furniture clip used to secure a cabinet door or drawer in a closed position for shipping.
The furniture industry has a long-standing problem with the manufacture of kitchen cabinets and similar products that have either doors hinged to the frame or drawers: the doors or drawers can open and become damaged during shipment. As they are often designed for home use, these types of cabinets typically have magnetic or mechanical catches that release easily. Because the catches ordinarily release easily, the doors tend to open if the cabinets are tipped or bumped during shipping, and the doors are frequently damaged by swinging open under their own weight or bumping into other objects.
The industry has tried numerous methods to prevent accidental opening during shipment, including tape, staples, and wire wrapped around the door and frame. None of these methods has given complete satisfaction, and indeed many can cause other types of damage to the cabinets such as sticky residue, holes, or scratches. Various mechanical locking devices have been developed, but these can be difficult to attach and detach, prohibitively expensive, or damaging to the cabinet in some way. In addition, these locking devices may not accommodate face plates of different thicknesses or doors with molding along the edges.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive and simple yet effective device that can be quickly and easily installed on cabinet doors or drawers to restrain the doors and drawers in a closed position during shipping.
It is another object of the present invention is to provide a single furniture door clip that can accommodate doors and drawers of different thicknesses and with molding along the edges.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a furniture door clip that can be installed and removed with low risk of damage to the cabinet and that may be left on the cabinet to serve as an easily operable door lock.
These and other objects are satisfied by the present invention, which is directed to a clip for securing a movable member, such as a cabinet door or a drawer, to a fixed frame. The clip comprises a mounting member, two clip arms, and a securing member 10 that extends generally perpendicularly to the first clip arm and is adapted to secure the clip to the fixed frame. The clip arms each have respective fixed and free ends. The first clip arm connects at its fixed end to the mounting member and is designed to contact one surface of the movable member. The second clip arm connects at its fixed end to the mounting member and is designed to contact an opposing surface of the movable member.
The second clip arm may be arcuate, and it preferably extends in a direction generally parallel to the first clip arm. The first and second clip arms have a gap between them. The gap has a portion that tapers from wide to narrow with increasing distance from the fixed ends of the clip arms for a portion of the length of the arms. Towards the free ends of the clip arms, the gap may also taper out again from narrow to wide to facilitate attachment and removal of the clip from the movable member.
The clip may also include a shoulder on the mounting member or first clip arm that facilitates positioning the clip on the movable member so that the securing member will engage the fixed frame when the movable member is closed. The second clip arm should exert a force onto the movable member that is sufficient to secure the movable member against the first clip arm, but not so much that it prevents the easy attachment to or removal of the clip from the movable member, which typically has a thickness between xe2x85x9 and 1 xc2xc inches. The force exerted by the second clip arm upon the movable member when it is installed in place is preferably between 1, 2, 9 or 10 to 10, 20, 90 or 100 pounds (lbs.), depending upon the particular choice of material from which the clip is made, the specific thickness of the movable member, the particular configuration of the clip, etc. For example, in on embodiment the clip may exert a force of between 1 or 2 to 10 or 20 lbs; in another embodiment the clip may exert a force of between 9 or 10 to 90 or 100 lbs.
Ideally, the clip is formed of a polymeric material, and the securing member is barbed at its free end. A flange extends from the mounting location in a direction opposite that in which the first clip arm extends and contacts the fixed frame.